Come little children
by Cheeto-Breath
Summary: Children are disappearing & turning up dead in Pennsylvania, but why is JJ so reluctant to take the case? And what does her estranged family have to do with what's going on? JJ centred/team fic.


**_Oh look, I'm back. HiHi.  
Own nothing.  
Wish I did, but, I don't.  
No Henry/Will  
Lyrics are from the poem "Come little children."  
Enjoy!  
_**

* * *

_Come little children  
__I'll take thee away  
__Into a land of enchantment_

_Come little children_  
_the time's come to play_  
_here in my garden of shadows  
_

* * *

"Get out of my office." She seethed through gritted teeth, desperately attempting to keep her voice down.

The single task was almost far too difficult for the young agent, but she knew that just outside the door a handful of very curious profilers were waiting and she didn't want to give them any reason to come and interrupt her.  
"Oh, that's great. So you'll travel halfway around the world to help a bunch of strangers but you won't travel a couple of hundred miles down the road to help your own family?" A gruff voice replied.  
JJ placed her palms onto her desk and leant forward.  
"All of my family are right outside that door." She answered.  
"People are dying back home. Children are dying and you're not going to do anything about it. You're just sick." He said bitterly, scrunching his face in disgust.  
"Oh, I'm the sick one! After everything that happened back home, I'm the sick one? Wow."  
Despite her best efforts, JJ could feel her pitch rising.  
"You know why I can't go back home Jamie. Don't stand there and act dumb because you know. How can you blame me for not wanting to go back?"  
"Because the past is the past JJ. Shit happens. Stop acting like a petulant child and get over it." Jamie replied.  
"Get over it? Get over it! Are you serious? Get out Jamie. Just go. Now."  
Her bitten down finger nails dug deep into the mahogany wood of her desk. Clenching her teeth, she took a deep breath, calming herself before she said something regrettable as the young man gradually made his way from the small office.  
Pausing at the door, he turned.  
"You know, maybe dad was right. The wrath of God is more powerful than any. Maybe you did deserve everything that happened to you."

That did it.  
She wasn't sure what, but something inside of her snapped.  
Storming out into the corridor after him, she grabbed his arm to spin him towards her.  
"How dare you bring religion into this. That has nothing to do with what happened." She whispered harshly.  
"Let go of my arm Jay." The man said, his voice monotone and seemingly bored with the current situation.  
JJ observed the man in front of her. His facial features were hard, emotionless. The bright blue flame that had previously flared in the young man's eyes was gone, replaced by a dull, angry grey.  
As a child she has always known this day would come. The day when her handsome, care free brother became their father.

It was an inevitable fact of life.  
Women didn't want to turn into their mothers. Men didn't want to turn into their fathers. Children didn't want to turn into their parents.  
But as some point, whether accepted or not, it just happened.  
Day after day she witnessed Reid cradle his head in his hands as his migraines became worse. Watched as Hotch's hardened mask became less frequently removed, as Morgan's temper flared more often.  
It just happened.

"You promised." JJ said accusingly. "You promised that you'd always be there for me. That you'd protect me. You promised me that you'd never turn into dad and you have. You're just like him."

The breath was instantly pulled from her lungs as the well built man sent her flying backwards. Slamming his baby sister into the wall, he kept her upright by placing his arm across her chest, trapping her.  
JJ heard Morgan's furious shout but was unable to see the ruckus her team was creating as Jamie blocked her view.  
Leaning forward so that their foreheads were almost touching, Jamie spoke.  
"How dare you say that to me. I am nothing like him. Nothing!"  
JJ tried to twist her head to the side, avoiding the tiny droplets of saliva that sprayed across her face.  
"Do you understand me!" He said, pulling her forwards and slamming her violently back once more.

Had she even been able to respond before Morgan's powerful grasp pulled him away from her, JJ was pretty certain she wouldn't have been able to give him an answer. In fact, she was sure she couldn't say anything. It was a rare occasion when Jennifer Jareau was rendered speechless, but this was one of those times.

"You just assaulted a federal agent. Reid, call security." Hotch ordered.  
"No." JJ managed to mumble. "Just let him go."  
Morgan looked at her, eyebrows raised in astonishment, but complied with her wish all the same, releasing his iron grip on the man's shoulder.  
"You've got 60 seconds to disappear out of my sight before I show you what it feels like to be thrown around by a man bigger than you." Morgan threatened.  
"How come you get to have all the fun? If you get a go then so do I." Rossi added.  
"Out." Hotch demanded.  
JJ watched as Jamie did nothing but smirk in response before turning and strutting arrogantly from the room.

Pulling away from Emily's concerned hand, JJ silently slipped back into her office, closing the door behind her.  
"Just give her a minute." She heard Hotch say, followed by a scuffle of footsteps.

Setting herself down behind her desk, JJ released a shaky breath she hadn't even realised she was holding.  
Never in her life had her brother been violent to her. Sure, they'd had the odd fall out here and there as children, but he'd never physically attacked her.  
Placing her elbows on her desk, she hung her heavy head in her hands, when something caught her eye.  
Next to her sat the case file her brother brought her.  
Swallowing, JJ pulled the file in front of her. She fingered the paper delicately, but remained reluctant to fully turn over the page.  
Minutes ticked away.  
Finally, she flipped the page open.  
She already knew what the file contained.  
On the very first page, a photo of a blonde haired, blue eyed little girl stared back at her, the words 'deceased' and 'murder' jumping out at her instantly.

Slamming the file shut, she pushed it away so harshly that it fell to the floor below. Page after page fell from the brown binder, each piece of detailed paper flying around the room, every single one containing a photo of a child that no longer lived.  
Flinging herself back into her chair dejectedly, JJ closed her eyes.  
She had barely been in the office a couple of hours and her day was already ruined.

Three light taps echoed around the room. He didn't wait for permission to enter. The door opened with a hauntingly high pitched creak as Hotch side stepped into the room.  
He surveyed the office that was currently cluttered with numerous A4 pages.  
Stepping carefully so not to tread on any, Hotch came to a halt in front of JJ's desk.  
"Want to talk about it?"  
A few seconds passed silently before JJ sighed and lifted her head.  
"No. But I think we have a case."

* * *

_**THAT IS MAHOGANY!  
K thanks for reading!  
^.^**_


End file.
